Paynesville To Link To Two Trails Starting In 2024

PAYNESVILLE (WJON News) -- Paynesville will start work to link two trails together in 2024. The Paynesville Area Joint Trail Board has received two grants to help pay for the costs of linking the Lake Koronis Trail on the East end of town to the Glacial Lakes Trail.

The board received a $500,000 grant from the Active Transporation Program and a $440,000 grant from the Transportation Alternatives Program to help pay for the project. Board Chairman Mark Dingman says, in addition to the grants there is some public money involved:

"It's an expense to our community because I think both the city and the township for this year. That first $500,000 that were going to go on phase two, that's going to cost us each $50,000 out of our pocket to make sure this happens. It's not that we're just getting free money for the whole project."

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Dingman says at this point there are no plans to donate the Lake Koronis Trail to the DNR like the Rocori Trail is looking to do. The work will be done over a few years in two different phases. Because of how the grants work, phase II will actually start first in 2024 with phase I starting in 2027.